MR ADAM C WODON <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
> I don't know why Hockey East graduates and fans get offended by the suggestion
> the ECAC has better academic schools. There's no shame in being behind a
> conference that includes Harvard, Princeton and Yale ... geez!  It's like being
> insulted because they say you're not as good as Wayne Gretzky.
 
        Yes, but I have never heard Wayne Gretzky claim he is the best.
On the other hand, there have been ECAC fans that have claimed the
EACAC is the best academically.  Sort of like you statement, "There's
no shame being behind..."
 
> I'm pretty confident you would find the ECAC schools with better stats in this
> regard.  It's safe to say most hockey players who don't go pro graduate, even
> Maine's.  But it's also safe to say that players at Princeton have to go
> through slightly more rigorous programs to do it.
 
        So, instead of just saying so, do the research to back up your
statements.  "I'm confident," and ""it's also safe to say," are
totally meaningless without any data.
 
> Cal Ingraham is another - Maine had to forfeit 14 games he played in.  There
> may have been another.  I'm not sure who gets the most blame, but there's
> plenty to go around.  But this has nothing to do with the other discussion.
> You are correct, what Maine does doesn't NECESSARILY reflect on the league.
 
        No he is not.  Cal Ingraham never had academic trouble as far as I
know.  The problem was with the administration at Maine.  They had
him take courses at a college in Bangor that Maine considered part of
the University, but the NCAA did not.  Therefore, the NCAA ruled that
he played games before he was eligible after transfering from Air
Force.  By the way, Maine never forfeited any games due to this.
Instead, Cal was ruled ineligible to play for the first 14 games of
the 1993-94 season.
 
        The "another" is Mike Latendresse.  In his case, he was incorrectly
informed as to how many graduate credits he needed to take to be
eligible to play according to the NCAA.  Again, as far as I know Mike
was doing fine academically in the classes he was taking.
Unfortunately he was not taking enough classes according to the NCAA.
 
> You seem to be contradicting yourself.  You say Maine cannot be used to make a
> blanket statement, then list two other HEAC schools.  BC, by the way, also had
> big problems this year.
 
        No, I am not.  I was just giving two examples  from two schools.  I
did this to show that you could not use Maine to represent all HE
schools.  I never made any claim that these examples could be used to
represent all HE schools.
 
>Bottom line, it seems indisputable that ECAC contains more rigorous schools
 
        Well, I dispute that claim.  Until you can back that statement up with
research and data I see no reason to just assume that every ECAC
school is academically superior to every HE school.
 
        Furthermore, this started due to a statement that the ECAC schools
place academics *before* athletics, implying that Hockey East, CCHA
and WCHA schools do not.  Why else even make such a statement?
 
        By the way, it is HEA (Hockey East Association), not HEAC.  Just
some very minor drivel.
 
Sean Pickett
Go Boston University Terriers
1995 NCAA, Hockey East and Beanpot Champions
BU Hockey:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html
E-mail: [log in to unmask]